Category: Invertebrates
The structure of flatworms (flat) reflects their physiology – they have no body cavity other than a gut in most cases and rely on diffusion for respiration. Traditional zoology texts have divided this phylum into Turbellaria (Planarians) and three parasitic groups: Cestoda (tapeworms), Trematoda (flukes), and Monogenea (fish parasites), though scientific articles may present a more phylogenetically nuanced picture. For example, recent molecular research suggests that Turbellarians may have arisen polyphyletically (from two independent groups from different ancestral groups). Parasitic flatworms are a significant public health concern worldwide but are sometimes employed for beneficial purposes, such as controlling mosquito and invasive snail populations.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatworm
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/platyhelminthes/platyhelminthes.html
Body horror in the insect kingdom
Learning about animals, you can discover many fascinating, even beautiful facts, but there are also things that can give you nightmares! Enter the strepsiptera (“twisted-wing parasite”). The adult female has no limbs, wings, or mouth - she simply lives in and feeds off her host (typically a wasp). When it becomes time to mate, she protrudes part of her abdomen from between the plates of her host and uses mind control to get the wasp to fly off to nearby males. Sexually mature males have wings, and fly around for about five hours before dying - spending their entire short existence seeking out females to mate with. After the female is impregnated, her own young grow and consume her. And once there is nothing left to eat, they leave their host wasp, infiltrate the nursery, and latch on to a larvae to create their own “zombie wasp” host and continue the grisly cycle!
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